‘UN seat vindicates Duterte’s drug war’
Loan for Indonesia
MANILA, Oct 14, (Agencies): Granting the Philippines a fresh three-year term on the UN Human Rights Council has vindicated President Rodrigo Duterte and shown his detractors to be “morally corrupt”, its foreign minister said on Saturday. Human rights activists say Duterte’s crackdown on drugs after taking office in June 2016 – since when the police have killed more than 4,800 people - made his government unfit for a seat at the body.
But the Philippines was re-elected to the 47-seat council by secret ballot at the UN General Assembly on Friday.
“We are really greatly honoured as this is a vindication that fake news and baseless accusations have no place in modern-day human rights discussions,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said in a statement.
“We thank human rights advocates around the world but also condemn a few who are morally corrupt and who use human rights for political and financial gain,” he said.
The Philippines garnered 165 out of 193 votes, with one abstention, to win a fresh term beginning Jan. 1, 2019, according to a U.N. statement on its website.
Duterte is the subject of two complaints before the International Criminal Court that accuse him of crimes against humanity over the drug-related killings. Human Rights Watch said ahead of the vote that the Philippines’ “egregious” rights record made it unfit to be on the council.
One of Duterte’s fiercest critics, Congressman Gary Alejano, described the Philippines’ re-election to the body as a “big irony”.
“A country that has numerous cases of human rights violations has no place in the Council,” he said in a statement.
Duterte’s government has denied that the police exterminate drug users, saying all those killed were dealers who had resisted arrest.
Last month, Duterte appeared to admit responsibility for extrajudicial killings, but his spokesman said the remarks had been “playful” and were misinterpreted.
Duterte
WB offers Indonesia $1b loan:
The World Bank on Sunday announced funding of up to $1 billion for Indonesia after it was rocked by a string of recent disasters, including a deadly earthquake-tsunami that killed thousands.
CEO Kristalina Georgieva unveiled the funds at Indonesian holiday island Bali, where the Bank and the International Monetary Fund have been holding their annual meetings.
A 7.5-magnitude quake and a resulting tsunami tore through Palu city on Sulawesi island on Sept 28, killing more than 2,000 people and leaving thousands more missing, presumed dead.
Rescue teams scoured the wreckage for a fortnight before calling off the search for the dead, acknowledging as many as 5,000 missing people might never be found.
Protest over artificial islands:
Thousands took to the streets in Hong Kong Sunday to protest a government plan to build new housing on artificial islands, claiming the “white elephant” project will damage the environment and line the pockets of developers.
The government’s proposal to reclaim 1,700 hectares (4,200 acres) of land around Hong Kong’s largest outlying island, Lantau, has been touted as a solution to the pressing housing shortage in the city – notorious for being one of the least affordable markets on the planet.
City leader Carrie Lam said new residential units on the proposed artificial islands could accommodate 1.1 million people in the coming years, and pledged to reserve 70 percent of them for public housing.
But critics say the massive projects are too costly and will also destroy the environment – especially marine life – with many also expressing frustration over the lack of public say in the plans. There is no official figure for how much the islands will cost, but some campaigners have put the figure at HK$800 billion (US$102 billion).
‘Uphold Religion sinicization’:
The “sinicization” of religion must be upheld to promote ethnic solidarity and religious harmony, asenior Chinese official has said in the troubled western region of Xinjiang, which is home to a large Muslim population.
China’s state-run Xinhua news agency on Saturday quoted You Quan, head of the ruling Communist Party’s United Front Work Department, which oversees ethnic and religious affairs, as making the remarks on a visit to Xinjiang this week.